Summer Sunshine
by Melodylink
Summary: A conflict between duty and sunshine on a lazy summer afternoon. Mild ZeldaLink.


**Summer Sunshine**

She finds him in the garden where they had met, so long ago, lying on the sun-warm grass and gazing at the sky. He sprawls in the summer sunshine like a lazy cat, clearly content for the moment to do nothing but enjoy his rare moment of serenity.

She pauses in her tedious duties to study him. She steps closer, careful to keep her aura to herself.

He is a mystery of mismatched pieces, this boy-man she has made.

His long, toned body says _man _to her, and she feels an unanticipated thrill of electricity as her eyes trail his lazy length of supple limbs in the sunshine. He is lean and handsome, and fascinating in a way she finds intriguing despite herself. The courtiers and warriors that surround her have not half his force of personality. The sheer **_potentiality_** of him glows in the air all around him, and she wonders at the shortsighted old men who cannot feel it.

He lounges on the grass, completely at his ease, yet she is not fooled. Something besides the sword at his side says _dangerous _to herand beneath the surface air of relaxation the lazy cat is poised to pounce, sleek muscles coiled tensely beneath tanned skin.He is aware of her presence, battle-trained reflexes alerting him to what she had taken pains to hide. He makes no move towards her though, just curves his lips in a lazy acknowledgement of her presence. Once he would have jumped to greet her. It is another sign of the times, she thinks, his outward exuberance curbed to fit the adult mould she has forced upon him.

But then he opens his bottomless blue eyes and smiles up at her, an impish, little-boy smile that says _child_ to her in a whisper louder than the physical evidence. His eyes are the heart of him, impossibly innocent still. His gladness lights up his eyes from within, a purity of expression she can only guess at, she who learnt in the cradle to manipulate her emotions so that everything is controlled for the greater good of them all. He has never learnt to conceal his feelings, and she envies him fiercely for it. This is his magic, she thinks, his tiny gem of innocence inside him that doesn't understand the cruelties and sophistications of the world.

She drifts closer to him, drawn by his gladness, even though her duties nag at the edge of her mind, urging her to return to the cold damp of the castle.

His hand tugs at her skirt in a childlike command for her to sit. She brushes his hand off – she is a Princess after all, and almost a Queen. Some things are not allowable, even for the Hero of Time.

He looks up at her with his wide blue eyes, unrepentant and insistent._ Sit with me_, he says, commanding and pleading all in one.

She cannot stay with him. A thousand responsibilities drag at her, and she has never been so conscious of the stale duties that wait for her within. They are important, and she should not neglect them, even for a moment. The great danger in the land had passed, but it left destruction in its wake. It was her duty to work now, to rebuild this shattered world with something worthwhile from the rubble.

This is the big picture, and it is terribly important for them all. She cannot indulge herself in a moment in the sunshine – it was _wrong_ to do so when so much relied on her.

He doesn't understand. He is still a child in many ways, and that is part of what she likes about him. To him, a moment in the sunshine with a precious friend is just as important as a dusty meeting with her counsellors.

Perhaps he is right.

Perhaps not.

Can she take that chance?

He can, she knows, but he and she are different. She was born to carry world-weight on her shoulders, the spiritual guardian of forces beyond his comprehension. He was born to fight dragons in their dens and walk barefoot across sunshine days. They are too different for comparison…

… indeed, too different to last. She should end this now, send him home and make a peace.

But then he looks at her with his wide blue eyes brimful of trust, and she is trapped. He needs her, and perhaps, it goes both ways. His blue eyes catch her own for a second more, and she decides.

She sits with him – she has many calls on her time now, and they are important

but perhaps, right now, this is important too.

And so they sit together on the sun-warmed grass; Hero and Princess, boy and girl, enjoying the summer sunshine.


End file.
